


Possession

by glitterfluid



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Anxiety, Child Abuse, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possession, sonia kaspbrak is a piece of shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-04-23 18:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14338320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfluid/pseuds/glitterfluid
Summary: When Sonia Kaspbrak forces her son to move across town to keep him from his friends, Eddie finds his new room already occupied.





	1. Caution, Do Not Enter

**Author's Note:**

> This first prologue/chapter is kinda short, but here's the Remastered chapter one from my tumblr!
> 
> IMPORTANT: I'll be putting specific content warnings for each chapter here in the notes, but please note that this entire work will have heavy themes of emotional and physical child abuse, and, as the story progresses, written depictions of said abuse. While I will always post warnings, please know your limits and don't read this if you believe it will trigger you. Please take the warnings seriously and do not use this work to trigger yourself/self harm.
> 
> Warning: Themes of emotional manipulation/abuse, brief cancer mention.

Eddie Kaspbrak is less than thrilled about his life right now. His mother has made an executive decision to move them to the other side of town, away from the familiar neighborhood, and away from his best friends.

_“Change of scenery” my ass_

Eddie might be sheltered, but he knows it’s no coincidence this is coming a month after breaking his arm in a fight between his friends and the Bowers gang. Sonia placed all the blame on the kids, fully convinced the fight must’ve been started by headstrong Beverly and not Henry Bowers and his stupid goons.

So now Eddie is stuck across town from his favorite people in the world.

Small as Derry may be, it’s a long bike ride for a tiny asthmatic 15 year old who regularly gets mistaken for a lost elementary schooler.

 

* * *

 

 

“Watch the dust, Eddiebear. We don’t want you having an attack. And besides, it’s disgusting. All dead skin and-”

“-dust mites. Yeah. Sorry, mommy. I’ll be more careful.” Eddie picked at the lint on the old blanket he just smoothed on his bed. It didn’t look that dusty when he took it out of the moving box, but mom was probably right. You can’t take risks when it comes to his sickness, and disease could be anywhere. Eddie remembered a story his mother told him about one of his cousins (“Cousin Joy. Poor thing. It’s a shame you never got to know her.”) who worked in housekeeping and got lung cancer from breathing dust every day. Stan said it was bullshit, but why would she lie about something like that? Sure, she could be  _really_  overbearing but there's no way she would do that, right?  _Plus, it’s totally plausible, new studies are coming out all the time about how youcangetcancerfromanythingeventheairoutsideisn’ttotallysafenothingissafeand_

 

“Just be careful, Eddie. You should do your homework and get some rest. You must be so worn out from unpacking all day.”  _And who’s fault is that?_

“Yeah, I guess I’m kind of tired.”  _Tired of this shit, maybe._

“Alright, then sleep tight Eddiebear.” Sonia leaned down to grab his face for a dry, forceful kiss on the cheek. Eddie held his breath.

“Goodnight, mommy.” And she’s finally gone. Eddie let out an exhausted sigh and lay down on the foot of his bed. He closed his eyes for a moment and took in the sound of the heater ( _Fire hazard_ ) humming next to him, the trees ( _Pollen allergies_ ) rustling outside, and his own breathing ( _Wheezing_ ). He wished he could live in this bubble of quiet forever, totally undisturbed by his overprotective mother, or the gentle breathing a few feet above him.

Eddie’s eyes snapped open, and were met with a shining pair of glasses. He scrambled off the bed, frantically searching the room for either his inhaler for the oncoming asthma attack or something heavy to swing at the intruder, slipping and falling on his ass in the process. He looked up at a gangly boy his age with the kind of dark mop of hair that says "I haven't showered in days" and a thick pair of glasses with scratched up lenses that magnified his brown eyes. The boy was flapping his hands around in a panic while he spluttered out a series of curses under his breath. The fabric of his obnoxious Hawaiian shirt swished around him on top of a clearly old, worn t-shirt. Eddie was fairly sure the boy was a bit taller than him, but it's hard to tell while he's floating in the air.  _He’s floating in the air._

Finally, the unwelcome guest addressed Eddie. “Shit, okay, sorry! Fuck. Um. Please don’t scream?”

Eddie took a couple of labored breaths and dragged himself off the floor.

“Okay, okay good! See, we’re calm we’re breathing we’re all go- “

“MOMMY”


	2. Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: (Very) Brief depiction of physical child abuse.

The floating boy groaned and dramatically dragged his hands down his face. “Good listening, dipshit. I hope you’re good at making excuses for when the warden gets here.”

Speak of the devil, Sonia burst into Eddie’s room without warning. “What happened, Eddiebear? Do you need your inhaler? Your pills?” As she reached out to grab and inspect his face, Eddie made the abrupt realization she was reaching not around, but into and through the stranger’s torso.

“Normally I’m the one inside people’s moms, not the other way around. What a refreshing change of pace!” The boy smirked before floating higher until he was bumping up against the ceiling, Eddie’s eyes tracking him the whole way. “It’s rude to stare y’know.” A beat. “Answer her!”

Eddie’s eyes snapped back down to meet his mother’s, searching his face for redness or swelling. “I fell asleep and I had a nightmare! Just a nightmare. I’m sorry for scaring you, mommy.”

Sonia paused and drew back from inspecting her son, furrowing her brow in frustration. She smacked the side of his head, not hard enough to do damage, but firmly enough to make Eddie wince at the reprimanding sting and the boy on the ceiling flinch and turn away for a moment. “Don’t you scare me like that, Edward! Here I thought you were dying from an attack or _worse!_ What if someone was in here trying to take you from me?”

“It was stupid. Really stupid. I’m sorry.” Eddie wanted to rub the sore spot on his head, but he knew that would just cause more trouble, so he sat, feeling his pulse in his scalp.

“Do _not_ do that again. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, mommy. Sorry, mommy.”

Sonia huffed and looked Eddie over one final time. As she left, she paused in the doorway. “Turn that heater up before you go back to bed. There’s a draft in here. You’ll catch a cold.” And the door slammed behind her.

The boy floated down in front of Eddie and dangled his feet right above the floor. He slowly reached out toward his head with a concerned expression. “Shit, are you okay? Do you need ice or something? I’m pretty cold if that helps.”

Eddie borderline violently shoved the boy back, feeling how chilly he was even through his shirt. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” He said in an aggressive stage whisper, “What are you doing in my room? Why can’t mom see you?” _Am I losing my fucking mind?_

The boy shrank back a bit at being shoved, inhaling sharply and crossing his arms over his chest. Eddie caught a flicker of fear on his face, and for a moment he was ashamed of himself for lashing out like that, but the kid exhaled slowly and relaxed, smiling a bit sheepishly. “Right. I guess I owe you some explanations. First off, I’m Richie Tozier, and you must be-” Richie snorted, “ _Eddiebear_.”

Eddie gagged reflexively. “My name is _just_ Eddie. Kaspbrak. And if you ever call me that again I’ll use my cast as a club and bash your head in.”

“Feisty! I like it! Understood, Eds.” Eddie rolled his eyes. _At least it isn’t that godforsaken pet name._ “Alright, well. To be honest, you should seriously sit down, because this is going to be. A lot. I really _really_ need you to give me a chance here, because this is definitely going to sound like bullshit but I _promise_ it’s 100 percent real!”

“Get to the point.” Despite his frustration, Eddie sat down on Richie’s request.

“Right. So, hi. I’m Richie and welcome to the Tozier residence. Former Tozier residence? I still live here so…” Eddie huffed. “Fuck, off topic, sorry! So, how can I put this delicately? I am… I’m super-duper dead. Passed on. Kicked the bucket! A ghost. Died in the summer of '89, and I’ve been stuck in this shithole house for 27 years. Most people have no clue I’m here, and I can just fuck around all day. But, you can actually see me! Maybe it’s a thing with kids? I’ve been a few ‘imaginary friends’ over the years, so that’s fun. How old are you by the way? Like 11?”

“I’m 15!” Eddie almost screeched before composing himself again. “God. Okay, look. Say I accept all this as the truth, and you really are a-” Eddie struggled to spit the words out, “A ghost and not some hallucination. What do I do now?”

Richie shrugged and fiddled with the hem of his spectral shirt. “I- Honestly I really didn’t think we would get this far. I guess we could like… Be friends? I don’t fuckin’ know.”

Eddie groaned with exasperation and flopped down on his bed, a nervous headache intensifying the soreness where he was hit. _How is this my life?_ “You know what, Rich? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ll take you up on the ice pack offer.”

Richie grinned and pressed a cool hand to Eddie’s head. If Eddie blocked out that it was actually someone’s hand laying on him, the gentle pressure and chill soothed some of the stress. The boys laid in silence for a bit, Richie’s slightly inhuman ( _Dead_ ) hand resting in Eddie’s smooth hair. Richie struggled to keep quiet for long. “Hey, Eds?” Eddie hummed in response. “Don’t… Don’t go around telling everyone about me, okay? You tell one person and all of a sudden the Tozier House is the new Derry town legend or whatever, y’know?”

Eddie hummed dismissively and reached under his pillow for his phone. He knew exactly how to confirm what Richie was: a restless spirit or a sign for Eddie to get help.

 **Prince Kaspbrak:** Come over after school tomorrow I have something important to show you

 **Benny:** But I have a book club meeting. :-(

 **Gay Bird:** Is it a weird frog again?

 **Mikey Mouse:** oh come on! that was one time!!!

 **Bill you useless bisexual:** how urgent eddie? whats up?

 **Prince Kaspbrak:** Urgent im serious

 **Chaotic futch:** stop complaining gays he obviously needs help

 **Benny:** *Guys

 **Chaotic futch:** i know what i said

 **Mikey Mouse:** we’ll be there eddie. no worries.

 **Prince Kaspbrak** : Youre a blessing mike <3

 **Mikey Mouse:** aw shucks! (:

 **Mikey Mouse:** (is it a frog though because i’ll bring treats)

Richie’s eyes flickered over the screen and he sighed.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a shit listener, Eds?”

**Author's Note:**

> Questions? Prompts? I'm reddieofficial on tumblr!


End file.
